Have A Nice Day Jack!
by Lingren
Summary: Jack appears to suffer all sort of mishaps because Daniel is having an 'off day'. But then, perhaps things are not quite what they first appear to be?
1. Chapter 1

_Just like to mention that his was only the second Stargate story that I wrote and posted back in February 2002. I thought you might like to read a revised version of it, but please bear in mind that I was fairly new to writing at that time; and even though I'm revising it, it remains basically the same - give or take a few – okay, several - words. _

_It's not that long a story, just a few chapters and - sorry people, but it was written before I knew anything about shippers and before my own leanings that way had developed, so unfortunately no Jack and Sam in this one. _

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

Category: Angst, Drama, Humour, Hurt/Comfort. Violence.

Spoilers: Gamekeeper, Rites of Passage, Show and Tell, and possibly others. Season: Season 5, after Rites of Passage.

Warnings: Odd curses. Jack Whumping.

Summary: Jack appears to suffer all sort of mishaps because Daniel is having an 'off day'. But then, perhaps things are not quite what they first appear to be?

Disclaimer: Don't own Stargate SG-1 unfortunately, so No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author.

First Posted in 2002. Updated in 2007.

"Have A Nice Day, Jack!"

by Lingren.

Chapter 1 – A Good Start to a New Day...

"Have a nice day Jack."

That in itself was just a simple and innocent enough statement, meant to imply exactly what those words had alluded to...

That's precisely what Mrs. Collins his elderly neighbour had called out to Colonel Jack O'Neill early this morning when he'd left his house, heading in to work at the SGC. He was actually looking forward to this mission. It was supposedly to be a nice easy excursion off-world after the gruelling assignments of late.

He had quite cheerfully waved back at the pensioner as he'd climbed into his truck at some ungodly hour when all his other neighbours could sleep in until later.

'Oiy! Yeah, sure… He was having a super day. It had been real nice. What else could go wrong?' Jack pondered to himself while he sat on the top step of the dais which held the Stargate in place. He was patiently waiting for his 2IC Major Samantha – Sam - Carter to send the iris code so they could all go home through the portal. He just couldn't wait for that.

'Thanks Mrs. C. "Have a nice day Jack, indeed!" Oh yeah, it was turning out to be one 'hell' of a day, which would be a better acronym for it. Amongst others.'

"Sir?" Sam Carter knelt on one knee to look up into her CO's face, her hand resting on his shoulder and not just for balance. She'd felt embarrassed over the way the mission had turned out, even though the results had nothing whatsoever to do with her. She was blameless, as was Teal'c.

Jack pulled one of his hands away from his face, making Sam wince.

"Carter?"

OoOoOoOoO

The klaxons under Cheyenne Mountain burst into life, and the usual 'Unauthorized gate activity', bellowed out of the speakers throughout the base. Major General George Hammond stood up from behind his desk in his office, and made his way down to the control room.

"What now? There's no team is due back yet! Do we have a Iris code sergeant?"

"Just coming through now Sir... Sir, it's SG1."

"What in god's name has happened now? Open the Iris! They've only been gone for 3 hours. Better gat a medical team up here right away, just in case!" Hammond ordered, dreading what he might see when the team arrived home.

It was only meant to be a simple mission. A walk in the park, so Jack had described it. So with an early return, something must have gone very wrong. Hammond couldn't think of any other reason why they would be coming back so soon.

"Yes Sir!"

OoOoOoOoO

"We have the go ahead Sir!"

Carter's voice had jogged him from his miserable reverie, and Jack impatiently waved his free hand in the direction of the Stargate, indicating that they should all go through it.

At this irritable gesture, Daniel Jackson raced up the steps to put as much distance between himself and Jack. However in his haste to escape another angry tirade, he tripped on the last of the steps and dived headlong into the wormhole. Carter could barely keep herself from giggling and looked across at Jack. He stood up with difficulty and glared at her.

"It's not that funny Carter," he grumbled, secretly wondering if it would be wise to wait a few minutes to allow Daniel time to step clear of the ramp before he followed.

"No Sir." She replied, turning to look at Teal'c but his face was as impassive as ever. She stifled another giggle and fled into the wormhole, before she could be reprimanded by her CO for unbecoming conduct, just as she broke into a peal of real laughter. Teal'c looked towards his friend, one eyebrow raised in question.

"It's okay Teal'c. I'm fine. I can manage. See you on the other side, big guy."

Teal'c inclined his head in his usual fashion.

"Very well O'Neill." he replied. "I will if you so wish it." Then he quickly withdrew backwards through the gate.

Jack grumbled to himself for a minute. He had the mother of all headaches and was hoping Doc Fraiser would have some Tylenol at least to help stop his head from falling off. He took a deep breath, which he instantly regretted, and painfully climbed the steps to disappear into the portal too.

OoOoOoOoO

One always knew that when entering the vortex at speed, the exit was somewhat faster. Daniel recalled this subject the moment he hurtled out of the wormhole to bounce painfully onto the ramp, resting to get his bearings before finally staggering to his feet.

"Are you all right Dr. Jackson?" The General asked, stepping forward, ready to assist him to his feet.

"I'm just fine!" he replied shrugging off the General's offered hand, and almost knocking him over in his haste to leave the gate-room.

The General stared after him in utter astonishment, before he heard Sam Carter's arrival. Heard was the appropriate word the General observed, considering there was obviously something which she had found very amusing.

Sam did manage to suppress her emotions long enough to greet the General, and when he asked where the Colonel was, she sniggered and pointed to the still active gate.

"He's just coming Sir!" she laughed, turning to grin at Janet Fraiser her closest friend and confidante, making the petite Doctor wonder what had gone on out there.

"What is so funny Major?" Hammond was rapidly growing frustrated with the way his best team was acting. He made a mental note to ask the CMO to run a whole host of tests on the members of SG-1 because he was completely baffled by their behaviour, trusting that they hadn't been compromised on their mission.

Not getting any response from Major Carter because she was busy wiping the tears from her eyes, he turned to face Teal'c as he emerged, hoping to get some sense from the stoical Jaffa if no-one else.

"What's going on here Teal'c? Firstly Dr. Jackson comes flying down the ramp, and in his haste to leave the area he almost knocked me over..."

It was no good, Sam just could not contain herself any longer when she heard this, and ran giggling from the gate-room.

The General, Janet Fraiser and Teal'c stared at the empty doorway, and then at each other. The General was about to ask Teal'c what Major Carter had seen or heard that was so amusing, when the final member of the team stepped through onto the ramp.

All eyes turned towards Colonel Jack O'Neill as he stood silently at the top of the ramp, the wormhole snapping off behind him. He limped down towards the little group at the foot of the ramp. One hand was cupping his lower face where it held a bloodied field dressing up to his nose. His cap was pulled down so far that it covered his eyes, making them darker than usual.

His green BDU's were covered in dark sticky mud. The General was completely baffled by the behaviour of his premiere team. He could see nothing amusing with the situation before his eyes. Colonel O'Neill was obviously injured, Dr. Jackson was, by the look of him, in a foul temper. Major Carter had fled the room in hysterics, and Teal'c was, as usual, very taciturn, revealing nothing.

"Colonel! Just what the Sam Hill is going on? Are you alright?"

"Oh! It's nudding mush Sir." He said, his voice muffled by the dressing he held over his nose. "Danyel's in a bid ov a miff, he excelled hibself today, add all because I wouldn't let him play wid his roxs. Carder foud thigs a bid amusin', and Teal'k is ...well...Teal'k!, norbal, sane, yadda, yadda. As for byself...well...I had a wreally bad day, sir."

"I see...or rather I don't see, Colonel. You'd better let the doctor take a look at those injuries of yours then go get yourself cleaned up. We'll debrief in 2 hours time."

"Yesssir!" he sighed wearily.

Now he knew he was in for more fun. He also knew that the day was going to be a really, really long and humiliating one. He was especially looking forward to the pithy comments from the marines when they discovered what had happened. NOT!

TBC


	2. An Endangered Species

_Thank you all for your reviews, glad you seem to be liking it so far._

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

Now he knew he was in for more fun. He also knew that the day was going to be a really, really long and humiliating one. He was especially looking forward to the pithy comments from the marines when they discovered what had happened. NOT!

Chapter 2 – An Endangered Species?

Dr. Fraiser walked straight up to the Colonel and eased his hand away from his nose, to see the damage. Then she pulled his cap up and away from his eyes before removing it altogether.

"Ouch!" she hissed, taking a good look at the damage. "I think we'd better get you X-rayed Sir."

Jack had known as much and so allowed her to lead him to where a gurney was now waiting specifically for him. He took one look at it and chose to ignore it, hobbling past instead.

"It's nod dat bad Dog. I can wark...Sorda!"

OoOoOoOoO

Janet Fraiser put down the x-ray she had been holding up to the light-box.

"I'm afraid it is definitely broken Colonel. I'm going to have to put some stitches in that gash too and then cover your nose with some sticking plaster to keep it clean and stabilized until it mends." She hesitated to regain her composure. "You are going to have a really...um...fat nose by tomorrow, Colonel." She had to stop talking for a minute, until she could control the tremor in her voice. She gave a little cough to clear her throat. "That's not the worst of it Sir. The swelling is really going to interfere with your other eye too... so...sooo you'll have a couple of really nice black eyes for a few days."

Heaven help her, she'd tried not to laugh but having discovered the reason for the state of him she found it all rather amusing. It was getting harder by the minute to stop herself from giving in to the laughter that kept bubbling up inside her. She worked quickly and efficiently putting a couple of stitches into the bridge of Jack's nose and then covered the rapidly turning black and blue site with an over-large band-aid.

"You laugh just once Fraiser, and I will personally see to it that you do an extra shift or two. Maybe polishing the infirmary floor with your toothbrush." Jack was well aware of what was going through her mind.

"I'm sorry Colonel... It's just that... Well, Sam was right Sir, you do resemble a giant panda now." she sniggered, her face creasing in the struggle to hold off her mirth...until he'd gone from the infirmary at least.

He sighed and frowned at her, his shoulders sagging, knowing she was right which didn't help him one little bit. News of his little accident was going to be all round the base in about 10 seconds flat... 'Geez, thanks Daniel.' he thought sourly.

"Okay Colonel you can go now." His knee had already been patched up, and there was nothing more than a deep graze and some bruising. "I want to see you back here tomorrow to check up on that knee, and also to see how your face is doing. I would recommend that you stay on base for the rest of today at least Sir. Here are some analgesics to take should the pain get any worse. I also think it best if you tried to avoid a certain archaeologist for a while too. He's very upset over this Colonel, and he doesn't think it would be a good idea if you called in to see him, especially after all that's happened today. I'd give it another day before you go talk to him. He's feeling quite miserable right now."

"Yeah, I can see why that would make him shy away. Thanks Doc. I think." He was actually glad to leave the medical bay and hobbled away as quickly as he could to the locker room in order to clean up for the debriefing. Which he was sooooo not looking forward to.

OoOoOoOoO

General Hammond entered the briefing room exactly on time to see only half of his number one team already seated round the table.

"Where are Dr. Jackson and Colonel O'Neill?" he asked, sitting down in his chair.

"Daniel's on his way Sir, but I haven't seen the Colonel since we got back, maybe he was with Janet longer than we thought General."

"Very well. Then we'll start without them. Now then Major, lets have your report of what really happened on P5X 3489."

Hammond looked at her sternly, and she knew she had better keep a straight face during the telling, or she could find herself in the dog house; like she wasn't already there as far as the Colonel was concerned.

"Well Sir. The first incident, happened the moment we arrived through the gate. The wormhole gave us a pretty rough ride. The Colonel as usual was first out, and I followed closely behind him. We both flew out and hit the ground in front of the gate, rolling. The Colonel stood up and was just about to ask me if I was all right when Daniel flew out of the gate and smacked straight into the Colonel, knocking him down the steps, and landing on top of him." Sam paused, reminding herself that under no circumstances should she laugh!

"The problem was, that the Colonel's right knee smacked into a rather large jagged rock which meant that his knee was injured Sir. So, being the only medical authority on the team, I administered first aid. The Colonel said afterwards it felt okay and he didn't see any reason to postpone the mission by heading straight back to the SGC. So we carried on."

"Daniel Jackson was not in any way to blame for this unfortunate incident General Hammond. It was purely an accident. He did not intend to inflict such damage onto O'Neill."

"Quite so Teal'c. But I am sure that Doctor Jackson took it personally, knowing him as we all do. So, continue Major."

Sam was about to start again when raised voices came from the corridor just outside the room.

OoOoOoOoO

"Daniel! What the hell has gotten into you?" Jack fumed.

"God! I'm sorry Jack! I didn't mean to... I...I I just...it's not...Oh hell, Jack...I'm really sorry. I am. Here let me hel..."

"No! Daniel, just stay away okay! I'll manage on my own thank you," Jack cried with a grunt of pain, waving a stunned Daniel aside.

Daniel stood speechless and frozen for a while, and absolutely furious with himself for his stupidity, before he found his voice again.

"Fine. Then I won't help you," he yelled, adding quietly, "Do it yourself then you goddamn stubborn jackass." He turned abruptly on his heel to retreat back the way he had come. He was never going to improve on this day no matter what he did or said in apology; he would be better off going into hiding somewhere before he did any more damage to the Colonel. He had to use Jack's rank because he didn't believe that Jack would want him as a friend any more.

"I heard that!" Jack yelled after him.

"Good!" Came the distant reply.

The briefing room emptied as everyone hurried out into the corridor to see what was going on. Jack was just getting up from the floor.

"Colonel?" General Hammond questioned O'Neill as he struggled to compose himself.

"It's nothing Sir. Daniel was just a little too eager to get to debriefing I guess, and I kinda got in his way. Again!" He glared down the empty hallway where the retreating figure of his friend had disappeared just moments before.

He turned and immediately scowled at the smile that threatened to appear on Sam's lips. She sobered instantly when her CO winced in fresh pain, and watched as he limped his way into the room. She couldn't fathom out what was happening but now it was making things for her and the others very uncomfortable. Once back inside the room, they resumed their seats and waited for the General to begin again.

"How are you feeling now Colonel? Any more damage from whatever happened just now?"

"No sir. And I'm just peachy sir. Doc tells me I'm going to look like this..." he said, pointing to his battered face. "...for some days to come. Let alone hobbling around for God knows how long. Oh...I'm just dandy Sir."

"Major Carter has been filling me in with the details of the 'accident' when you exited the Stargate. I'm sure th..."

"Oh...I bet she has Sir. She probably said that it resembled something from a Laurel and Hardy classic." He smiled sarcastically at her. "I for one don't see any comparison here."

"If you wouldn't mind Colonel, please continue with the report."

Jack took a deep breath fortifying and began his version of events.

"After picking myself up out of the mud, having been flattened by said, 'heavy' archaeologist..."

TBC


	3. Jack 0 : Daniel 4

_Glad you're all enjoying this - here's a little more fun, until it becomes something far more sinister..._

_Thank you all for your wonderful comments - love to know what you think of this story._

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

"After picking myself up out of the mud, having been flattened by said, 'heavy' archaeologist..."

Chapter 3 – Jack 0 – Daniel 4?

The phone rang for some time before the receiver was eventually picked up.

"Colonel Saunders."

"Mac. here Sir. I have some news. They have played straight into our hands sir. The result of today's mission couldn't have turned out any better."

"You're sure this idea will work?"

"Perfectly Sir. I shall be able to kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes. I can get rid of O'Neill which is good, and do it by using the good Dr. Jackson. That will put him away for a very long time too, and that would mean both of them will be out of the way. They're not exactly on friendly terms just at the moment."

"Good...that's good news. The more the merrier. Go to it Mac."

"Yes Sir!"

OoOoOoOoO

"...The planet appeared to be deserted Sir. Just trees and mud; lots of trees and lots of mud. Did I mention there was lots of mud? Lot of sharp stones there too. There weren't any buildings that remained in tact. None that we could see of, in fact there was nothing there which I considered remotely useful General. Not that we had that much chance to see a great deal of the planet. Carter did her soil samples. Daniel was just a tiny bit peeved because he wanted to scrabble around in the dirt to look at some rocks. I said we could come back later if we had time. To which he groused a little, saying something about never having time, and that he was going to stay right there while we went and scouted around the area, including the nearby forest. So, I went over to him to try and 'persuade' him to come with us, when he grabbed a fist sized rock and shoved it into my face to show me that there was something written on it. Um...that's when I got the first black eye. Hurt like crazy too."

"Are you telling me that Dr. Jackson did that to you on purpose Colonel?" Hammond gasped unable to imagine the mild mannered young man doing harm to anyone, let alone Jack.

"No Sir. To be Honest I guess he thought I was actually further away than I was, but as I wasn't, and well, the rock smacked right into my eye."

Carter snickered but when Jack glared icily at her, she managed to turn it into a cough. His dark-er eyes narrowed as best they could under the circumstances.

"You never mentioned that you had a cold Carter." Jack asked suspiciously.

"Oh...I haven't Sir, it's nothing, just a tickle Colonel." She helped herself to a glass of water to try to prove her point.

Jack ignored her blatant stretching of the truth and carried on with his report.

"After refusing to allow Daniel time to study the rocks, and Carter checking over my black eye, we finally moved on into the wooded area of the planet. It was pretty dense in there too, lots of undergrowth, lots of trees. I made Carter take point, then Daniel whom I followed, and I had Teal'c cover our sixes. It was stupid really, but I thought by placing Daniel in front of myself, I would have been safe from any further mishaps. It was just not gonna happen, Sir. Daniel just wasn't concentrating on the job at hand, and he let go of a particularly 'springy branch' just as I was about to take it from him." Jack paused, taking a sip of water from the glass in front of him as he recalled the pain so clearly. "Needless to say General, unfortunately the branch managed to find my nose quicker than I could react. The result was injury number three... Oh, he was apologetic enough, but I was getting a little tired by now of playing his stooge."

"I really was sorry about that Jack." Daniel had spoken from the doorway, not wanting to enter, but too curious to hear what was being said he couldn't stay away from the briefing.

As he spoke the room fell silent as everyone swivelled round to look at him.

"Dr. Jackson just what in God's name were you thinking of out there today. You have single-handedly managed to disable my best team. There's no-way I can send the Colonel out on any mission like this."

"General, I really didn't mean for any of this to happen. I guess I wasn't really at my best today. There's no-way I can say sorry any better than that. I'm sorry Jack, really." Daniel paused, wrapping his arms around himself in his classic 'I'm hurting' pose. "You know, maybe I should just quit this whole thing now before I do any real damage." He turned round, dashed out of the door and hurried quickly down the corridor, still hugging his chest with his arms.

"Oh fer crying out loud! General, let me go after him, and try to talk some sense into him before he goes and does anything...silly."

"Go ahead Colonel. Major Carter can fill me in on the rest of the report."

OoOoOoOoO

Jack believed he knew where Daniel would be hiding away from everyone, so he made his way quickly there. The Lab appeared to be empty at first glance, but he thought he heard a small noise, so he took a closer look, peering into the dark corners. That's when he found Daniel. He was sitting on the floor in one of the corners of the room with his arms hugging his knees tightly and his head almost buried in his arms. He was rocking backwards and forwards.

Jack's frustration with his young friend evaporated, as he watched his friend suffering, and with great difficulty, he squatted down in front of him placing a hand on Daniel's arm.

"Danny, come on, it's not that bad. So, you've just had an off day. We all have them...sometimes. I know I sounded off at you, but hey, you know me. Bad case of foot in mouth..." he grimaced when his knee protested strongly at the position he was in. "Ah! Look, can we get off the floor now, my knee's killing me. So, we going to get us some coffee or what? Huh?" Jack stood up and rubbed his sore knee, he then stretched out his hand to take his friend's.

Daniel hesitated for a moment, looking up at Jack, then reached out and grabbed the offered hand to haul himself to his feet. It made him feel a little better that Jack was still considering him a friend, but it hadn't eased away his guilt.

"Just don't turn this crazy day into a habit will ya!" Jack smirked, slapping his team-mate on the back.

Daniel couldn't bring himself to look Jack in the face yet, it reminded him too much of what he'd done to the older man.

Once again the klaxons sounded and Jack and Daniel forgot the idea of coffee and hurried as fast as Jack could run down the hallways to get to the control room. They ran up to the briefing room window first and looked down over the gate-room. The iris was open ready to receive its travellers, then SG-7 stepped through. The team had come home safely, and in one piece.

Jack quickly made his way over to the metal stairway ready to descend to the control room where he knew the General and the other members of his team would be.

Daniel followed close on his heels, but somehow, he caught his foot on something and went crashing into the back of Jack who promptly fell headlong down the stairs, ending up in a crumpled, moaning heap at the bottom. Daniel just stood transfixed at the top of the stairs watching, horrified at what had just occurred.

Jack was now sat awkwardly on the floor glaring up at him utterly exasperated with his friend. He was now clutching his elbow to ease the pain he felt there after pounding it on the way down, and blood trickled from several scrapes to his hands and forehead.

General Hammond, Sam, Teal'c and the crew of the control room turned at the cacophony of alternate yelps of pain, cursing and bumping as the Colonel made his ungainly way down to the bottom of the steps. Sam and Teal'c rushed over to help him, while the General gaped in disbelief at the unbelievable scene in front of his eyes.

Surely, Dr. Jackson couldn't have done anything else to Jack?

Sam looked up at Daniel with sadness on her face, she couldn't understand it at all. The first few times something like this had happened to the Colonel could be considered funny, but this, this was far beyond belief, and definitely not amusing.

Jack just sat there for a few moments absolutely bewildered by his sheer misfortune, he couldn't believe his luck was this bad on any given day. Did someone forget to tell him it was Friday the thirteenth? Did he walk under a ladder or something? This was going too far.

Guiltily, Daniel clenched his fists and banged them in frustration on the handrail, and when the rest of his team looked up at him accusingly he turned away and escaped before they started voicing their disappointed opinions of him.

Jack was duly helped back up to his feet by Sam and Teal'c. He stretched his long legs gingerly and flexed his upper body to assess any damage. Nothing wrong there, at least nothing except a few new bruises, and just his right elbow which by the feel of it was probably busted. There was a sore spot on his back too, probably from where he had caught the edge of the bottom step when he'd finally landed.

Another thing Jack was really having trouble with, was controlling his temper. If Daniel did anything else to him today, he was going to lose it and snap.

Once again in the space of an hour or so, he found himself in the infirmary being checked over by Dr. Fraiser. This time he'd managed to avoid any breakages, getting away with severe bruising to his elbow and several grazes and scrapes from his contact with the unyielding hard metal of the stairs.

Janet patched him up once more and sent him away to rest after he refused to stay there any longer. He'd seen enough of her infirmary today to last him a life time, thank you.

OoOoOoOoO

"Colonel Saunders here! That you Mac?"

"Yes Sir! Just filling you in on the latest Colonel. The tactics are working well and going according to plan Sir."

"Good! Let me know how it ends."

"Roger that Sir!"

TBC


	4. What The Hell?

_Hi folks, thanks once again for all your wonderful comments. I hope this chapter will give you a little insight into what is going on. A little more angst to come for everyone._

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

"Good! Let me know how you get on."

"Roger that Sir!"

Chapter 4 – "What the Hell?"

General Hammond quickly dismissed SG-7 and turned his attention back to Sam and Teal'c, asking them to join him in the briefing room. Once there and seated round the table again, he had to ask them if there was anything going on between Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson that he should know about. Anything that might explain the sudden animosity that appeared to have come between the two men.

"No sir, nothing that I know of. I just don't get it. I know Daniel was put out because the Colonel said we didn't have time to study the rocks that he'd found at that point in the mission. The Colonel wanted to push on and explore a bit more of the planet before we stayed in one place too long. He said he needed to check out the area first to make sure we were alone out there. But, I can't see that that was any different than any of the other times we've been anywhere off-world. I just can't explain sir. "

"I have to agree with Major Carter, General Hammond. Daniel Jackson was extremely upset at not being able to remain there, but I do not believe his actions were intentional. It is not in his human nature. He looks upon O'Neill as one would an older brother or perhaps as his mentor."

"That maybe so Teal'c, but there's more going on here than meets the eye and I don't like it at all. Perhaps I had better have a word with Dr. Jackson. Teal'c would you escort him to my office in 30 minutes please. Dismissed."

OoOoOoOoO

Some time later after he'd been allowed to escape the infirmary, Jack, now sporting a sling with a bandaged elbow added to the growing list of injuries for the day, found his way back to Daniel's lab.

When he rounded the corner of the doorway he could see Daniel was in there, but he was packing some artefacts carefully into a crate. He stood there watching for a while, his anger now no longer burned inside, and if anything, it had left just a nagging weariness, concern and confusion in its place. It was some minutes before he spoke, trying to inject a little normality into his voice, hoping that it conveyed - despite what Daniel had put him through that day - that they were still friends.

"What'cha doin'?" he asked brightly, bur hesitated when he noticed Daniel looked so forlorn it stirred his fatherly anxiety for the younger man.

"What do you think I'm doing, Jack?" Daniel snapped not wanting to look up and meet his former friend eye to eye. It would be okay if Jack wanted to forgive him, that was up to the man himself, but he would never be able to face him without feeling the weight of his guilt at causing so much pain however unintentional it had been.

"Looks to me suspiciously like you're packing." Jack picked up one of the artefacts that remained on the desk waiting its turn to be packed, and started to turn it over in his hands.

"I just don't think it's a good idea for me to stay around here right now," Daniel grumbled as he snatched away the treasure before Jack could drop it.

"Ya know, running away from things never solves anything Danny-boy. It may take you away from whatever the dilemma is, yeah, but it never solves it. So, just what is the problem here Danny? What is going on?"

"Jack," Daniel sighed, bringing his hands up to rub at his eyes by pushing his glasses higher up his face. "You must know I never meant to hurt you, don't you? I mean, you're like my family, Jack. Sam and Teal'c are too, even General Hammond...he's been like a father to me." The artefacts now lay abandoned when instinctively his arms wrapped themselves around his chest when he saw that Jack was wearing a sling now because of yet another injury he'd caused. "I would never do that sort of thing on purpose. Especially to you Jack."

"Yeah, I knew that Danny, but there were a couple of times it felt exactly like you intended to do those things to me. Like, buck on P...whatever, when you were miffed because I wouldn't let you play with your rocks."

"I don't play with them! And they're artefacts!"

"Whatever." Even Jack didn't feel like continuing the usual back and forth argument they had made them famous among those working in the SGC. He just didn't have the spirit for bantering, and he doubted Daniel did either.

"Yeah, well I admit I was pretty mad at you at the time. So mad I just didn't think about what I was doing. Sorry."

"So you did do the branch thing on purpose then?"

"No!"

"No?"

"No! Yes! No!..." Daniel threw his hands in the air and spun away in frustration.

"Daniel!" Jack cried, hoping to get through to his stubborn friend.

"It wasn't like that Jack." Daniel swung back abruptly, stepping closer to Jack until they were almost nose to nose and Jack jerked back a step out of instinct, but Daniel had noticed movement and calmed down, wondering if perhaps Jack was now leery of his actions. The outcome was even more guilt now weighed heavily on his shoulders. "I just wanted to show you I was upset. I was angry. It was only meant... Well, it went a bit wrong. I didn't intend to hurt you like that though. It didn't help any when Sam howled with laughter. It made me all the madder because it wasn't meant to be funny. It was an accident."

"Okay. So...what about the incident in the hallway outside the briefing room? Or the stairs thing? Did you do those things on purpose too?"

"No Jack! No! Never! Look, I know I'm clumsy sometimes, you know that. I'm just a damn klutz, but I really did trip on something on those stairs. I don't know what it was, I never saw anything, and I'm really sorry you got hurt yet again."

"Okay. Apology accepted. So, can we can we just forget it and move on?"

"No." Daniel yelled, his anger rising again. Jack just didn't get it. He couldn't stay on the team or here because he was afraid he might get Jack or Sam, or perhaps Teal'c killed through his ineptitude, and that was unacceptable.

"Daniel, look, there's no need to pack all that stuff away. You can just empty the damn crate again. You don't have to go because of this Daniel."

"Yes I do." Daniel shook off Jack's hand as the older man had tried to stop him.

"Why! Because you had a bad day?" Jack yelled, getting riled too because Daniel wasn't listening to him. "Well, dammit Daniel, so have I!"

"Yes, you have, and it's all my fault. So therefore, I'm leaving." Daniel yelled back in frustration, giving Jack a shove which made Jack stagger backwards. Couldn't Jack understand what he was saying? "Just leave me the hell alone Jack."

"No dammit Daniel, I won't. I'm not going to let you walk out of here. Not like this!" Jack tossed back at him.

"I'm going whether you like it or not Jack, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Jack sighed, he really didn't think arguing with the man was going to make him stay.

"Come on Daniel, It's not that bad, fer cryin' out loud!" He threw the good hands up in the air in frustration but got tangled in the sling so he tore it off and threw it aside. "You got any coffee in that pot of yours?" Jack asked, trying to lighten the tension between them. Daniel didn't answer, so he turned towards the coffee maker on the bench behind him. Daniel was exasperating him yet again. What would it take to convince him?

There were times when Daniel just wished Jack wouldn't treat him like a damn kid. He sighed wearily and turned away angry again. Sometimes Jack could be a right pain in the ass. The way he was feeling right now he would love to knock Jack's teeth out, damn the man!

Feeling a twinge of guilt for having thought like that he stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him to leave Jack talking to himself. When he had gone about twenty yards down the darkened hallway, he stopped to lean against the wall, his emotions all in a turmoil. Not many people came this way at this time of the evening, and it looked like the maintenance crew still hadn't fixed the cameras or lighting. Not that it worried him; at least he could be alone out here with his thoughts, and if Jack meant anything he'd said, then surely he would come looking for him. After several moments though with no sign of Jack, the tears threatened to spill over as he felt suddenly alone, feeling perturbed and angry with Jack and everyone else. Without conscious thought to what he was doing, he balled his fists and turned punching rapidly at the wall several times, taking out his frustrations on the solid concrete.

It was only when he had let his rage finally find it's release that the pain of what he'd actually done set in. He looked down at his now battered and bloodied knuckles. 'Stupid...real stupid, Jackson,' he muttered to himself.

Gingerly taking some tissues from the handy-pack he always carried in his pocket, he dabbed gently at the bloodied mess on his hands. He noticed the bloody marks he had left on the wall too and quickly wiped them off as well. Folding his arms across his chest and tucking his throbbing hands under his armpits, he went to the locker-room to clean up. He really didn't want to see anybody right now. All he wanted to do was get the hell away from the SGC so that he could think straight, and make that all important decision concerning his near future.

OoOoOoOoO

Back in the room, Jack splashed water around the inside of the pot, muttering to himself about making coffee properly by having a clean pot to begin with, which was inevitably harder to do when one had a bruised elbow making movement difficult. He was about to reach for the coffee tin, when he felt a sudden agonising pain in his shoulder. Almost as if something had smacked into him, and it pushed him across the bench making him lose his hold on the coffee pot which rolled away before it came to rest against a thick tome. He groaned and bit back a curse, spinning round quickly to find out why the hell Daniel had hit him like that. His fist thoughts were perhaps his friend had been compromised back on the planet from where the animosity seemed to stem from.

"Daniel! What the...? Huh?" Nothing Jack saw nobody. "Daniel?" he called but there was no answer to his call. It was then when another agonising pain screamed through his unprotected abdomen, making him double over and fall to his knees, gasping for breath and fighting against the need to puke. Looking up he could still see nothing? As far as he could see there wasn't anyone there. Daniel must have been playing on his weakness right now. He was obviously hiding. Or, perhaps he had run off now he'd actually hit him?

Once his breathing was nearer normal, Jack climbed painfully to his feet only to feel another excruciating blow to his ribs, only this time he heard an audible snap as at least one of them broke from the impact. 'Shit!' he thought. 'I'm in real trouble now.' His head was swimming, his breathing growing harder, and he found himself back on his knees once again. What the hell was happening? This couldn't be real' it had to be a bad dream...a nightmare even! What the hell was going on? This time there was a sharp jab to one of his kidneys which sent him sprawling back onto the floor wracked ion pain, and that's when the full realization hit him. He was under attack from an unseen enemy. He knew there was no way to fight off an enemy like this. You couldn't hit back at something you couldn't see, just like you couldn't expect to escape.

He knew the one thing he had to do was to sound that alarm and warn the General. He didn't have the faintest idea of who or what it was attacking him, and he didn't know how many of these invisible 'people' were on the base. He had to warn Hammond.

He scrambled to his feet and staggered in pain, but another blow hit him squarely on the shoulder and he couldn't help choking out a cry of agony. He tried hard to dodge the blows as they came, but he just didn't know where they were coming from or when to expect them.

With sheer determination he gritted his teeth against the pain and the punishment of his body, if only to stop himself from crying out. He managed to stagger to his feet, ready to make a run for the alarm button, but a sweeping blow to both his knees took him straight down again, knocking the wind from him when he landed hard onto his already bruised arm. He felt the world tilt on its axis as blackness hovered waiting to claim his consciousness.

TBC


	5. Who Did That?

_Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Hope you are all following this. The answers will come a little later, so by then you'll be able to understand my devious scheming a little better._

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

With sheer determination he gritted his teeth against the pain and the punishment of his body, if only to stop himself from crying out. He managed to stagger to his feet, ready to make a run for the alarm button, but a sweeping blow to both his knees took him straight down again, knocking the wind from him when he landed hard onto his already bruised arm. He felt the world tilt on its axis as blackness hovered waiting to claim his consciousness.

Chapter 5 – "Who Did That?"

It was also obvious to Jack now, that his attacker knew of his intentions, and would go all out to stop him from alerting the base to an intruder. For once he just wished he hadn't guessed right, as blow after blow rained down onto him. His only defence now was to curl himself into a foetal position and cover his head with his arms, affording it a little protection.

However, the beating continued, striking his back and shoulders, legs and arms, anywhere they could reach. He knew he wouldn't be able to take much more of this. He had to make it to that alarm button, even if it meant him dying in the process, better that, than die doing nothing and leaving the base compromised.

It was painful to breathe now, and darkness narrowed his vision; the agony of punishment, eating away at his awareness. It was now or never. With an extreme effort and in acute agony, Jack rolled sideways and climbed to his feet, tucking away the pain so that he could accomplish his task. He literally launched himself across the room, and in the process had taken his unknown attacker by surprise.

His fingers had barely brushed against the button though, when his world exploded into millions of bright stars and the blackness rushed in on him. He was unconscious even before he hit the floor.

OoOoOoOoO

Daniel hastily finished washing and patching up his hands as best he could. He was reluctant to go and see Janet because she would ask awkward questions. He'd never forgotten the last time he'd gone to her for something like this, knowing he'd probably be sent to see McKenzie again, and he would come off worse in the fight for his sanity right at this moment. Escape. The sooner he was out of here the better, because escaping from the SGC was his only hope of regaining control over his emotions, so he quickly made his way up to the surface. Once he'd reached the parking lot he got straight into his car and drove home, trying not to break the speed limit on the way. At least, this way, he knew Jack would be safe without him there to cause any more hurt.

OoOoOoOoO

Jack never knew if he'd made it to the button before he lost consciousness, but it rang out loud and clear around the hallways of the SGC as he lay comatose in a bruised and bloody heap in the darkness of the lab.

Sam and Teal'c were actually in the hallway just 50 yards or so, from Daniel's lab when the alarms rang. They had been on their way to tell the young man that General Hammond had wanted to see him. Sam grabbed the nearest phone asking for details of the emergency. Teal'c waited patiently by her side for her to finish the conversation.

"It's Daniel's office Teal'c!" Sam explained as they hurried round the corner and along the corridor to where Daniel worked.

Once they'd reached there, they stopped and peered into the gloom, looking for anything suspicious. They were joined by a couple of SFs who Sam ordered to stay sharp. Teal'c stepped softly over the threshold of the lab with Sam on his heels. Both of them stopped dead at the sight that greeted them when Teal'c flicked on the lights.

Jack was lying unconscious on the floor, blood spattered around him and Sam could see an extensive gash on the back of his head. The bright red blood seeping from the wound looking stark against his greying hair.

"Oh God! Colonel!" She gasped, rushing over to kneel beside him quickly feeling for a pulse.

Teal'c made sure that they were alone in the room before he sent the SFs to search the corridor. He picked up the phone asking the petite Doctor to hurry with a medical team. That done he rang General Hammond to apprise him of the situation.

Sam's fingers soon found a pulse, relieved it was still, but it was rapid and weak. Jack's skin felt cool and clammy.

"He's going into shock, we have to get Janet quickly."

"Doctor Fraiser and her team are already on their way Major Carter," Teal'c informed her as he hovered over his fallen friend.

Teal'c had found some tissues on the desk beside them and handed them to Sam who folded a handful of them up and placed them over the gaping wound on Jack's head to stem the flow of blood. Gently probing his body with her other hand she felt some of his ribs give way under her touch, and lifted his tee-shirt. What she saw was a horrifying mass of purple bruising and knew that whatever had happened and whoever had done this to him, that it was very bad. Teal'c appeared to be as shocked as she was, but she felt overwhelmed by her feelings of sadness.

"Who would do this to O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, puzzled by the idea that this had been no mere accident. Would it have anything to do with the other events which had occurred throughout the day? he wondered.

"God, I just don't know Teal'c, but they're not going to get away with it, that's for sure. General Hammond knows?"

"He does."

"Oh c'mon Janet, hurry up please." Sam held Jack's hand in hers, it felt so lifeless and cold, that her tears threatened to overflow down her cheeks. 'Don't die on us please Jack,' she pleaded silently. They perhaps could have accepted losing him on the field of battle, but not like this; not on his home turf as it were. Not on the base!

A slight moan escaped from Jack, he was murmuring something that Sam couldn't quite make out. His breathing was shallow and rapid, and he coughed and groaned a little louder. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but she recognised his humour even through his pain.

"Oww…thaaat...hurrrrrt!" His voice sounded so weak and slurred, she had to strain her ears to hear him.

"Sir!...Colonel!...it's me, Carter."

"Caarder...thaaat...you?"

He was barely aware of anything, his head hurt so much and his mind was befuddled. He looked across at what he took to be Carter, and she could see his half-open eyes appeared to be glazed and unseeing.

"Yes Sir. Stay still, Janet's on her way. Sir who did this to you? Did you see who it was Colonel?"

He was incoherent, he couldn't see straight, let alone think straight. What was it she was saying? He couldn't hear her properly because his the painful throbbing going on in his head hurt too much, and he could only just make out her fuzzy lips as they moved but nothing was making any sense to him at all.

"Whrss...Dannnyal?..." he coughed once again, painfully, and another trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, and she cringed in sympathy, biting her lip. Jack screwed up his face with the agony of it all, but he wanted to know where his friend was and if he was okay.

"Say again Sir," she forced herself to keep nagging him, needing to get the answers.

"Whrss...Dannnnyal?" he gasped, and his eyes closed again, in losing the struggle to keep then open. "Noooo-oone...thheeer. Goddda...waarrn... Hammmnd." He coughed again, and moaned weakly, his mind already closing down his scattered thoughts.

"Daniel? Sir? Daniel actually did this?" Sam gasped in shock. "Why do we have to warn the General Sir? Colonel?" There was no reply because he had drifted back into unconsciousness. Sam desperately searched for his pulse again, sighing in relief when she discovered it was still there.

"Daniel?...Daniel did this? Why the hell would Daniel do this... I mean...how? I just don't see how he ever managed to get through the Colonel's defences, let alone leave him in this state. I just can't believe it Teal'c. He wouldn't...he couldn't have done this, could he? It's impossible, he's never been able to outmanoeuvre the Colonel at any time." Sam's brain wasn't coming up with any reasonable answers to her questions, and now she wondered what it was that the Colonel wanted to warn the General about?

"Major Carter, it looks as if this was used as a weapon against O'Neill," commented Teal'c, pointing to a thick, stout wooden artefact lying on the floor behind the desk. Blood covered one end of it and Sam shuddered at the thought of all the damage it could have done, and held Jacks hand tighter.

A clattering down outside the door indicated Janet's arrival with her team in tow.

"Okay what's the emer...Oh my God!" she exclaimed on seeing Jack but unhappy at not receiving an answer from him. "What the hell happened?" She dropped onto her knees and felt his pulse, then checked his eye responses. Sam stood up and made way for the nurse.

"Colonel? Colonel O'Neill?" Janet tried to get through to her patient but with no reaction at all.

"Janet I think he has a couple of broken ribs at least, he's been coughing up blood. There's a mass of bruises all over his back and chest. He came to, briefly, just a minute ago. He didn't say much though, and it just didn't seem to make a lot of sense."

Janet lifted up his black T-shirt and grimaced as she ran her fingers lightly and professionally over his upper body. She listened to his harsh, shallow rasping breaths through her stethoscope. "More than a couple of ribs, three at least," she commented, far too professional to let the sight of his beaten body get to her. Over the years of working at the SGC, the Colonel and his team were her most frequent patients, but then that was because they were the front line team, and they had all become her personal friends in the process. They had given her Cassie for which she could only thank god for; SG-1 and Cassie were her family and she hated to see them hurt so badly.

The medical staff rolled him over gently and she continued her preliminary examination, coming to a quick decision.

"Let's get him to the OR stat...I need to operate now, or we could lose him."

They all lent a hand at lifting Jack's limp body gently onto the waiting gurney and Sam could only stand and watch them as they rushed her CO to the infirmary, and pray that he survived.

TBC


	6. The Waiting Game

_Hope you folks are still enjoying this story. Thanks as always for your kind reviews. I really do appreciate them all. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't._

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

They all lent a hand at lifting Jack's limp body gently onto the waiting gurney and Sam could only stand and watch them as they rushed her CO to the infirmary, and pray that he survived.

Chapter 6 – The Waiting Game

General Hammond sat restlessly in his office, under normal circumstances he considered himself a placid man, but these little 'incidents' that were happening between Dr. Jackson and his 2IC, were beginning to seriously try his patience. Where was Dr. Jackson anyway? The young linguist should have been here by now. He reached out to pick up the phone when suddenly the alarms bells rang throughout the base. He hurried out of his office and down to the control room.

"What's going on Sergeant? What's the emergency?"

"There's a medical emergency in Dr. Jackson's lab Sir." Announced one of the airman technicians replacing the telephone.

General Hammond reeled at the news.

"Now what?" he cried, wondering what else had gone wrong.

The telephone rang almost immediately again and this time the General personally answered it. A few moments later he slammed down the phone, turned and rushed out of the room, collecting two SF's on his way to the infirmary. He told them to find Dr. Jackson, and take him to his office, where he would deal with him later, but right now he had to find out what was wrong with Jack.

The General didn't know what to expect by the tine he'd reached the sick bay. He was only told the briefest outline on the phone, only that Jack was hurt again, and needed medical attention. He was understandably furious with Dr. Jackson, especially if he'd had anything at all to do with this latest turn of events. He came to a halt just outside the infirmary, simply standing in the hallway for a moment taking in the scene before him.

Major Carter was there, pacing the allotted waiting area for news of her CO. When she turned once again, she spotted the General and stood very still. Even from this distance Hammond could tell she was fighting not to give in to her emotions. Was the reason for her agitation indicative of how bad Jack's condition was? Fearing the worst, he approached her and Teal'c.

"General Sir," Sam saluted her superior officer and tried hard to quell the butterflies...or rather the elephants, that were quite literally stomping around inside her stomach right now. She felt physically sick too, about what she had learned tonight, and for that fact that she would have to report her team-mate.

"At ease Major, what in tarnation has happened now?" He demanded, though he wasn't angry at the Major, noticing there were already tear stains on her face and her eyes were red rimmed. His sour mood was aimed at the young archaeologist, and the mounting concern over what state the Colonel was currently in; and judging by Sam's obvious distress, he knew the news couldn't be good.

"We think the alarms were tripped by Colonel O'Neill, sir. He was in Daniel's lab, where the alarm originated. When Teal'c and I arrived on the scene shortly afterwards, we found him lying on the floor. He'd been beaten unconscious Sir. The Colonel was only vaguely aware for a few moments, and not very lucid at that, but it sounded to me like he said Daniel was responsible." Sam gulped back the need to cry for what it might mean for the Colonel and for the team. She was determined not to give in, but was finding it harder than she thought possible. She pulled herself together to finish her statement, sketchy though it was.

"The Colonel also said he had to warn you about something, but when I asked why, I found he'd lapsed into unconsciousness again sir." The tears that had been threatening to fall, regardless of her struggle to keep them at bay began to fall, and she hoped to god that the General wouldn't notice, or at least say anything to her. This was turning out to be a really, really bad day.

"Why in God's name would Dr. Jackson do such a thing to Colonel O'Neill? I thought they were friends? I had no idea things had gotten so far out of hand."

"I just don't understand it sir. It's not like the Colonel hasn't upset Daniel before."

"I have two SF's searching for him as of now. As for the colonel's warning, well I have no idea what that could be about, but I'll put the base on high alert just to be ready for anything should whatever it was that he'd seen. Not knowing why this happened is mystifying to say the least." Hammond couldn't help but wonder if he'd stepped into an Alternate Universe, rather like the one Dr. Jackson had visited before, because something strange was going on and he was determined to find out why.

Silence fell over the three concerned people as they watched the medical staff running around on various unfathomable errands. Medical procedures were so not the General's forte.

"Any news of what's going on down there." Hammond asked indicating the activity in the OR.

"Not yet Sir. Janet only said that she would have to operate fairly quickly, but she didn't have time to explain anything until she'd examined the Colonel further." Sam paused to swallow the ominous lump in her throat that threatened to defeat her resolve not to give in to her feminine side. "She already mentioned that the Colonel might not make it with all the damage that had been done to him."

She could no longer stop the tears from flowing and her hand batted the moisture away angrily. Hurt, frustrated and in desperate need of comfort, she was annoyed with herself for succumbing to such weakness, berating herself for allowing people, especially the General, to see her like this. The General laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it, just as Teal'c enfolded her into his strong arms, offering her much needed comfort.

Hammond knew she was upset, God, he felt terrible himself over this whole fiasco. For all of Jack's provoking behaviour, he had grown quite fond of his irascible, irreverent, and hot tempered but extremely loyal 2IC. He also knew that Jack and his team were very close too, but he never allowed that to cloud his judgement on their valuable contribution to the Stargate programme.

As for anything bordering on the too friendly side, well, for them, he could turn a blind eye so long as they continued to be professional about working together on the same team. If he thought for one moment that there was any cause for concern, then he would have to face that when the time came, but now, everything hinged on whether Jack could pull himself out of the mire once again so that he could return to normal duty as soon as possible.

"Why don't you and Teal'c go and get yourselves some coffee in the commissary, Major. I'm sure it will make you feel better. I'll send someone to fetch you as soon as I hear any news if you're not back by then." He ordered gently. "I expect it will be some time before Dr. Fraiser will be through anyway."

Sam didn't want to leave before she knew her CO was going to be okay, so when the General spoke to her in that kindly manner, she knew it was, in reality, a thinly veiled order. Therefore she'd had no choice in the matter.

"Yes Sir!" she nodded numbly, and allowed Teal'c to lead her away.

General Hammond then paced up and down the corridor to wait for the CMO's report on the condition of his subordinate who was also his friend.

After around ten minutes the telephone rang and the General picked up the receiver. "General Hammond...I see...thank you...I want someone to go round to Dr. Jackson's apartment to apprehend him and then bring him back here for questioning. Put him in a holding cell until I'm ready to see him." He replaced the receiver and looked up in time to see Dr. Fraiser and her team wheel Jack into the ICU.

Squaring his shoulders, he would knew the time had come to hear all of the details on the Jack's condition. He was sure he had aged at least another 10 years whilst waiting for that news. He snagged another SF to go and tell Major Carter and Teal'c, that Colonel O'Neill had returned from surgery, just as he had promised her that he would.

OoOoOoOoO

Doctor Fraiser settled her latest patient into the ICU and wired him up to several monitors, IV lines and various tubes that snaked over and around his battered body. She then hooked him up to the respirator to help him breath while his broken ribs and punctured lung healed. Satisfied that he was fairly comfortable at last, she left to make her report.

"What is his condition Doctor?" Hammond asked, nodding in the direction of his 2IC. He approached the petite medic who pursed her lips as she recited the catalogue of fresh injuries.

"Well Sir, we managed to repair the injury to his lungs, as wall as his spleen, which were both damaged in the attack. He is comfortable for the time being, but it's really up to him now Sir. He's tough enough to get through it, I don't see that it's going to be so much of a problem for him to recover." Janet sighed a little in relief and could see that the General had relaxed slightly from her words. "Even though the Colonel has sustained more physical injuries than he did that time in Antarctica, these are a little more serious, possibly life-threatening; that said though, most of the cuts and bruises on the surface are just that...purely superficial."

"Apart from those injuries you listed, Doctor, where there any other problems? Major Carter told me he had what looked to be a serious head injury."

"Well, yes Sir, there were quite a few other injuries. I've had to put eight stitches into the cut on his head, and it's a wonder he's still with us General. Any 'normal' person would probably be dead after a blow like that, but as I've said before, Colonel O'Neill does appear to have a fairly hard head. He's already had a CT scan and an MRI done, and I'm going to take a look at the results just now Sir. All in all he sustained four broken ribs, a punctured lung, a bruised kidney, a damaged spleen, a severe cut on the head with a probable concussion, several cuts to his upper arms, back, shoulders and knees, and there was extensive bruising just about everywhere. Someone really did have a go at him Sir, and it's my opinion that they really had meant to kill him. But he's a fighter Sir, and if I know the Colonel, he won't give up, so I'm sure he'll make it through this. Do we know how or why it happened yet sir?"

General Hammond paled at the staggering amount of injuries that Jack had sustained. He didn't know how the man had survived at all. As the Doctor had already pointed out, any other person would probably be dead. He knew a lot about his people on the base so what he was about to say, he knew the Doctor would find it all rather upsetting; as had he.

"All Major Carter managed to get out of the Colonel was an incomprehensible and garbled rambling. When she asked him who had done this to him, he mentioned Dr. Jackson."

TBC


	7. It's A Nightmare!

_Thanks for your reviews once again. It always helps to cheer me up on these gloomy rainy days we're having. Wettest June on British records – I can so believe that! And they say there is more on the way! Oiy! Which is one of the reasons I am late posting this today – apart from the odd passing storm - we've been rearranging the room so I've been off–line._

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

"All Major Carter managed to get out of the Colonel was an incomprehensible and garbled rambling. When she asked him who had done this to him, he mentioned Dr. Jackson."

Chapter 7 - It's A Nightmare.

"I just can't imagine what the man was thinking of assaulting Colonel O'Neill. I've sent a couple of SF's to pick him up and return him here for questioning, I am determined to get to the bottom of this. I will not tolerate such behaviour in this facility."

To say that Dr. Fraiser was shocked at this news was a gross understatement to say the least. She was beyond flabbergasted. She had grown decidedly fond of Daniel and she couldn't believe that he would do such a dreadful thing, especially to Jack O'Neill. She'd seen how both of them would sit for hours in the infirmary whilst the other was recovering from some injury or illness. What the heck had gone wrong? She just couldn't imagine he would be capable of aggression let alone to the degree the Colonel had been injured. Daniel just wasn't like that.

"How long will it be before Colonel O'Neill wakes up?" Hammond asked, bringing her back to the present.

"Well Sir, I'm keeping him sedated at the moment, the less he moves about the better, so it will be some time before I can let him wake up. Then there are the pain meds which will make him a little sluggish too to begin with."

"Can I see him?" Hammond needed to satisfy his own understanding of Jack's injuries. He wanted to see the damage done, for himself. It would make it easier to keep his mind focused on getting to the bottom of this whole sordid affair.

"Yes Sir, of course, but he's heavily sedated and won't know you're there."

"That's fine Doctor. And I'll know."

While the General stepped quietly into the ICU room, Sam and Teal'c arrived in the infirmary, eagerly seeking any news. Janet took them aside and brought them up to date.

General Hammond stood silently at the foot of the bed and looked down at the almost quiescent form of his friend. Jack was never still for two minutes put together, but looking at him now, the only discernable movement was from the steady rise and fall of his chest; not even a finger twitched adding to George Hammond's regret that he'd allowed things to go on for too long between the two men. 'Don't worry Jack, you just get yourself well again and I'll get this mess sorted out.' Hammond spoke softly to his friend not knowing if he was being heard or not by Jack nor caring if any of the staff overheard him. 'If indeed Dr. Jackson did do this to you, then trust me, he'll be shipped out of here so fast his feet won't touch the ground.'

He really hated to see anyone injured but it went deeper than that if that person was Jack O'Neill. It wrenched his gut every time one of his men came home badly injured, but this, this was far, far worse. This was done deliberately with intent and malice to extinguish his life. Done presumably by a so called friend, and what riled him more than anything was that it had been right here on this base under his very nose.

Jack was a damn good officer, as well as a good friend, who was suffering just because a certain someone had borne a petty grudge. It beggared belief. It was going to be a long time before a new SG-1 was ready to go and face the threat to this world again. And, God, he hoped Jack was going to be okay. Life on the base or in fact life in general wouldn't be the same if... He couldn't even bring himself to think that word, it was just too painful to even contemplate the possibility. He released a deep heart-felt sigh turned on his heel and trudged wearily back to his office. As CO of Stargate Command there was no escaping the unpleasant duty which now awaited him.

OoOoOoOoO

"Janet please, We'd just like to stay with him for a little while," Sam pleaded with her friend.

"He won't know your there, he'll be asleep for some time to come. I gave him enough sedative to keep him from waking for some time. I don't want you disturbing him either; he needs to rest in order for his wounds to heal."

"Well, maybe, but believe me he'll know if we're there or not Janet. It's what he would do for any of us in the same situation, you know that. Teal'c and I will take turns, but one or the other of us will be there for him when he finally wakes up."

"Alright then, but make sure you both get proper rests and meals too. In fact I'll insist on it."

"Thanks Janet." Sam turned to face her team-mate, feeling slightly calmer than she had been now. "Teal'c I'd like to stay with the Colonel tonight. Maybe you get some rest while you can."

"As you wish Major Carter." Teal'c dipped his head and strolled away, his hands behind his back; the perfect picture of relaxation, if they didn't know any better that was.

Sam made her way carefully around the many machines with tubes and wires that surrounded and fed into or from Jack. Sitting herself on the ubiquitous hard grey plastic chair provided. She gently lifted Jack's fingers and placed it within her own, thinking how long and strong his hands were. Those slender yet tough fingers were dangerous in any fight, yet oh so gentle where they were concerned with little children. Those same hands had saved her butt many times. His hand was warm now, not clammy or cool as before when she'd almost believed he had died from his injuries back in the Lab.

She very tenderly stroked his hand, trying to reassure him through her touch that she was there for him, and if she found some little comfort from just holding it, then that was infinitely better too. She spoke softly to him, reassuring him that he was going to be okay. His fingers twitched a little in response, and even though she knew he was deeply asleep, to her, it was a sign that he knew she was there with him.

OoOoOoOoO

The General made his way down to the holding cell, where he had ordered the Security Forces to take Dr. Jackson once they had apprehended him. He wanted to have a good talk with the Doctor of Archaeology about the very recent dramatic events which had taken place in his own Lab. The guards outside the holding cells snapped to attention on Hammond's approach.

Inside the locked cell, Daniel was pacing back and forth when the door opened to reveal the General as he entered with a guard escort.

"General! What's going on? How's Jack?" asked Daniel, his words tripping over each other as he spoke nineteen to the dozen in his eagerness to know what everyone was playing at. "Nobody is telling me anything here! They just said that Jack had been badly hurt and I was needed back here at the base. Then they brought me straight here...in...into...into a holding cell? W...why am I being held in here?"

"Dr. Jackson, right now Colonel O'Neill is in intensive care. He has received some very serious injuries."

"Whoa! W…what? What happened? I want to see him. I have to go see him General."

"I'm sorry son. I can't let you do that."

"W…why?...Why not?...Why am I being held here? Why am I being treated like a common criminal General?"

"Are you denying that you are a criminal Dr. Jackson?"

"What...No!...Yes! I'm not...I haven't done anything wrong. Have I? You tell me what I'm supposed to have done and I'll tell you if it's true or false!" Daniel already felt like he'd stepped through the Transdimentional Mirror.

"Then in your own words, Dr. Jackson, and you tell me, why it was, that you happened to be the only one around at the time my second in command was beaten within an inch of his life!"

"What?" Daniel gaped at the General and wanted desperately to believe that he had stepped onto the wrong planet or Universe because he could understand what was going on at all. "Jack...Jack's really hurt that bad? Oh God no." he cried. "Look, I can't explain what happened to him, but I wasn't there...I went home. I left Jack in my lab making some coffee. I had nothing to do with this whatever happened. I swear to god I didn't know about this. Surely you don't think that I had anything to do with this! You know I would never do such a thing, let alone do it to Jack."

"Then how come, given today's earlier events, I find that really hard to believe?"

"General. I...I'll admit that today's not been an ideal day and I got annoyed with him, yeah, but I don't know what happened to Jack, that's the truth. I could never intentionally hurt Jack!"

"I don't see how that is possible son seeing as Colonel O'Neill himself, said you were the only person there."

"What!...Jack... He told you that I was responsible. I can't believe Jack would say that, General. Why would he lie?"

Daniel was growing more agitated by the minute, he'd started hugging himself, a sure sign of inner distress, and as his disbelief grew, so his movements became more erratic, until he felt like tearing his hair out in frustration. Was there nothing he could show them, tell them that he was innocent in all of this?

Hammond watched him closely and noticed the bandaged knuckles.

"I see you have injured your hands Doctor. Do you mind telling me how you acquired these injuries."

"What...I did this... Oh God!" he cried with sudden clarity. "You think that I did this by beating Jack up, don't you! General, I swear I had nothing to do with it. Please, you have to believe me; I would never hurt Jack! He's my friend!"

"Then why do you have what I clearly recognise as bruised knuckles?"

"After Jack and I talked for a bit, I got angry. I left the room, and in a fit of temper I smashed them into the wall in the hallway."

"Can you prove to me what you did, by showing me the marks?"

Daniel slumped onto the bed, removed his glasses and placed them onto the covers beside him and then scrubbed his throbbing fingers up through his hair and them rubbed his tired eyes, before replacing his glasses, knowing he couldn't prove a damn thing.

"No...I can't." He said sadly, knowing he'd wiped them off earlier.

"Striking a senior officer is a serious offence Doctor Jackson. Even though you're technically not military you come under Air Force jurisdiction as your employer, and will therefore have to face charges of assault."

Daniel was struck dumb by the fact that this could have happened. 'This couldn't be real. It must be some strange and wacky dream he was having. Dream? What am I saying, it's a damn nightmare.' he thought to himself, for once unable to come up with anything that would help prove his innocence.

Maybe there was something on that planet that had exposed them to some weird drug or Goa'uld mind control or whatever, because he just hadn't got a clue what was going on. Things like this had happened to them before; like when they'd encountered the Gamekeeper - only this time it was a twisted dream. Perhaps if he pinched himself hard enough, he might wake up?

"Dr. Jackson! Did you hear a word of what I was saying?"

"Err. No sir, sorry. I was just...thinking."

"I am going to have to keep you in here, until we receive orders about what we are going to do with you. In the meantime I need to keep an eye on Colonel O'Neill. I only hope that you won't have to face a murder charge. Goodnight Dr. Jackson."

When the General had left, Daniel sat forlornly on his bunk, his back against the wall. Wrapping his arms around his knees and rocking backwards and forwards, he buried his head in his arms and wept.

Things really couldn't have gotten much worse if they had encountered a foothold situation. He had literally been accused of trying to kill his one real friend he'd ever had. No-one actually believed him, so how could he prove to them he was innocent when he had no valid alibi? Jack!...oh God! Why did this have to happen to him anyway, especially on today of all days. He could never, would never, do anything remotely like that to his friend. Jack was all he had, he was like a brother. Daniel felt fresh tears spring from his eyes as he prayed to God...'Please, God, please, don't let Jack die. Not from this!' he pleaded.

OoOoOoOoO

"Have you finished that job yet?"

"Not yet Sir. He's one tough SOB. But Doctor Jackson has been locked up and is facing charges of assault on O'Neill. There's a slight change of plans but, with any luck, I should finish the job tonight. Then Dr. Jackson will be facing a murder rap."

"Excellent work! Let me know when it's all done."

"Yes Sir!"

TBC


	8. Is There Anybody There?

_I do so apologise for the delay in posting – blame it on a couple of off-days. Glad to know you are still enjoying this and reviewing too! Thank you for that – I love to hear from you all._

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

"Excellent work! Let me know when it's all done."

"Yes Sir!"

Chapter 8 – Is There Anybody There?

Sam was feeling really tired by the time she'd sat next to Jack's bed for a couple of hours. She'd had an early start to the previous day, beginning with going off-world, now almost 24 hours later, the harrowing events of the day were catching her up fast. What made this languid feeling a whole lot worse was the quiet in the room while her CO slept; apart from the soft bleeping from the machines set up to record Jack's vital life signs, the almost silence was playing havoc with her will to stay awake. Even the coffee she'd finished a few minutes ago was having little effect to keep her going.

There was no sign of Teal'c coming to relieve her as yet. She gazed drowsily at the sleeping form of her CO, still holding his hand lightly in hers, and wishing she was the one sleeping – not in here though. Without much thought to what she was doing, she settled her head onto her arms, which resting on the top of the bed and closed her eyes. It would just be for a moment she told herself even as she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Sam didn't know why she had awoken. She knew something must have woken her. At first she lay there trying to figure out where she was. Then she remembered where and why she was there, and reasoned that perhaps the Colonel must have stirred and woken her. No... it couldn't have been him, she could see he was still sound asleep. Then she heard a small noise and raised her head to look around the darkened infirmary.

Then she noticed something odd then, Something weird was happening to the IV line into the back of Jack's hand.

It was moving on it's own?

Suddenly she leapt up and tried to push the alarm button for Janet, when something crashed into her skull, knocking her senselessly to the floor.

If anyone else had been there, they would have seen her limp body drag itself behind a trolley and lay there unmoving.

OoOoOoOoO

Teal'c had finally decided that it was time he went to sit with O'Neill while he allowed Major Carter get some much needed sleep. When he was approaching the ICU, he heard a noise like the scraping of a chair across the floor, a muffled moan, then a dull thud. He waited until it was quiet, then peered cautiously round the door frame, in time to see the Major's body being dragged away, seemingly by itself. He quietly retreated down the hallway to the nearest telephone he could find.

OoOoOoOoO

Having been alerted by the sudden high pitched bleeping, Janet Fraiser woke with a start. She had fallen asleep at her desk, and she realized just what that infernal noise was, and shot out of her office, sprinting to reach Jack who was apparently in serious trouble. There was no sign of Sam or Teal'c sitting sentinel over their CO which further puzzled her.

A breathless night duty nurse arrived on the scene, somewhat dishevelled from falling asleep on duty too. Jack had obviously taken a turn for the worse and his body, for some reason that Janet couldn't see right now, had started seizing. This was something she had dreaded all along. That his body could not recover from the sheet amount of trauma it had undergone. Between the two of them they went over everything to try and find out what was wrong with their patient.

OoOoOoOoO

Teal'c had met up with the General at the armoury, he had brought several SF's with him. They quickly withdrew the TER's, that the Tok'ra had introduced to them, for fighting an invisible enemy, and a Beretta each, then made their way down to the ICU. Sweeping the way ahead with their Tok'ra weapons as they went, and sealing the doors behind them to prevent whatever it was from escaping.

They'd found nothing during their search there, and hoped that they were not too late in trying to catch the intruder. They stopped just outside the ICU and Teal'c made a slow sweep of the room with his TER.

Suddenly a human shape appeared and there he was.

The assassin quickly realized he had been discovered and fired off several shots at Teal'c and the guards who'd entered behind him. He dodged and ducked from the invisible beam that had highlighted him before he found a safe hiding place again by using his invisibility to his advantage. He knew he must not let O'Neill survive, and having been discovered, he changed targets and took aim quickly although he didn't have a clear sight, and fired a couple of shots towards the bed where Jack lay, just as a bullet punched his side, making him miss his target.

He pushed the pain aside because he had to finish this before they killed him. Thinking rapidly, he decided that if he could kill the Doctor attending O'Neill, then there would be no-one to fix him up and the man would still die. Crouching behind a trolley, hoping that he couldn't be seen, he fired once more.

Janet cried out in pain when a bullet pierced her upper arm, but because Jack needed help she carried on despite the pain and the danger, so intent was she on not losing her patient.

Another shot just missed him, but the next two bullets found him, mostly by luck than judgement, but this assassin was very determined. After Janet was hit he moved as close as he could, before levelling the gun at Jack.

Several loud shots rang out.

He never stood a chance. Several bullets had hit their target.

It was by sheer fortune that they found their way into the body.

Shooting at something that was only vaguely visible was something they were learning to deal with. As the intruder fell to the floor, a Goa'uld device fell from his lax hand and he suddenly became visible again.

The General picked it up and turned it over in his hand. He showed it to Teal'c, handing it over to the Jaffa.

"It is the same type of device that Nerrti used to make herself invisible," Teal'c declared unhappily. His eyes wandered over to the tableau over at O'Neill's bedside, hoping that he hadn't been too late to save his friend.

"I was led to believe that device was safely stored away under strict security at area 51?"

"Yeah, I thought so too Teal'c. But, I can guarantee I know of someone that knew just how to gain access to it though."

Janet and her crew, relieved that the room was declared safe again, continued working on Jack, wondering why nothing they were doing seemed to make the slightest bit of difference. Her arm was really painful now and her blood was running freely down her arm, until another nurse came in and began trying to clean it for her while she worked on the Colonel.

Sam who had so far been overlooked, began to recover from her ordeal, and sat up groaning. Looking round quickly, Teal'c and another one of the nurses helped her sit up.

"Teal'c! Wow...Holy Hannah, my head," she groaned, clasping it with both hands and shutting her eyes for a moment to stop the world from spinning.

When she's settled and was able to open them again, she saw the room full of SF's and medical personnel she wondered what on earth was going on. Then with vivid alacrity she remembered what had happened. The Colonel!

"Janet," she cried, struggling to her feet to let her friend know what had been going on. "Someone tampered with the Colonel's IV. I saw it moving on it's own. I think they must have been using an invisibility device and they used it to inject something into the Colonel."

Janet thought it over for a second, willing herbody to concentrate on the problem and not her pain. She quickly took some blood samples for analysis and sent one of the staff off to the lab, needing it back asap.

Sam took the opportunity to look around at the mess. The floor was covered in blood from what looked like a dead soldier, and there were one or two of the SF's receiving medical treatment for wounds too.

"General!" Sam suddenly realised that Hammond had been standing there waiting, and watching the whole debacle. "What? How did you know sir?"

"Teal'c was on his way to relieve you and to sit with the Colonel, when he heard your muffled yell for help. Then he saw you being dragged away by some unknown force. He retreated down the hallway and phoned me, telling me what was going on. We met up at the armoury and drew some of the TERs from the store and came straight here."

He glanced back over to the bed where a hive of activity was still going on.

"I just hope we're not too late."

Everyone in that room knew just what he meant, and seconded his thoughts.

OoOoOoOoO

"Damn! Why the hell didn't I think of that? Skin cool to the touch, seizures, now a coma. Get me some glucose quickly," shouted Janet when she received the results of Jack's blood tests. She put her slow reactions to think clearly down to her damned arm. She hadn't be able to think straight.

Janet quickly injected Jack intravenously with a glucose solution. And the room tensed in silence as they waited for some type of reaction from the man in the bed. After what felt like an eternally, his vital signs started showing a marked improvement, and Janet heaved a huge sigh of relief.

Satisfied that the panic was now over, she reset all the monitors again and smiled down at her patient. 'You did it again Colonel...must be that damned lucky Irish blood in you.' She turned to see that she had an audience who could tell by the smile on her face that Jack was going to be okay. All they wanted now was an explanation of what had gone wrong.

"Would you care to explain what happened to the Colonel, Dr. Fraiser?"

"It was insulin Sir. Luckily Major Carter noticed the IV line moving as our would be assassin injected some Insulin into the Colonel's IV line. It was enough to cause an overdose, which we call Hypoglycaemia. The Colonel would have fallen into a coma and could have died if we hadn't counteracted it with glucose." She paused to wipe a hand over her heated forehead, feeling slightly unsteady.

"The assassin, whoever he was," she continued, pointing to the filled body bag being loaded onto a gurney. "brought us all a drink last night...my guess is that it was drugged to make us fall asleep so as not notice what was happening in here. However, Sam managed to fight it off and saw what he was doing, and fortunately for the Colonel, she did Sir. If she hadn't woken up when she did... Well, who knows!"

Now that the emergency was over and the adrenalin rush had gone, Janet began to feel more light-headed and woozy. She staggered slightly and Teal'c caught her before she could fall.

"Now is a good time to get yourself sorted out Doctor." General Hammond said and summoned help from the other nurses, ordering one of them to call Dr. Warner in to take over.

"Yes Sir. I think I will." she said weakly, trying not to pass out.

TBC


	9. All's Well That Ends Well

_Thanks as always for your wonderful reviews. Here's the last part coming up, so I hope you enjoy it too._

**Have A Nice Day, Jack! **

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

"Yes Sir. I think I will." she said weakly, trying not to pass out.

Chapter 9 – All's Well, That Ends Well.

Daniel entered the briefing room, somewhat bleary eyed and apprehensive, having been summoned to appear before the General and escorted from the holding cell by a couple of guards. When he took in the fact that it was 05.00 hours he stared in disbelief at the General, Sam and Teal'c who were sitting round the table drinking steaming cups of coffee, wondering what on earth was going on.

"Dr. Jackson," Hammond welcomed him with a smile. "come and join us."

"Ah. Thank you General. What's going on? Has something else happened to Jack?"

"Yes, and no son. Come and sit down, we have a lot to talk about."

Daniel walked slowly to a chair and sat down. He looked at them suspiciously, and nodded his thanks when he was passed a cup of coffee.

"Well...?" he asked, waiting impatiently for them to say something. Anything!

"Dr. Jackson I'm sure you will by pleased to know that Colonel O'Neill is going to make a full recovery. However, it didn't look like it just about an hour or so ago."

"I don't understand Sir, you told me he was doing okay. Wasn't he?"

"That is correct son, I did." Hammond paused for a moment before continuing. "Let's start at the beginning Doctor. You and the Colonel were not having a very good day..."

"That's one way of putting it, so, yeah, definitely not a good day."

"There was unknown to us at that point in time, on this base, someone, who shall we say, wanted to exploit that information, and use it to their advantage. They had in their possession this device." Hammond passed the device over to Daniel, hoping he would recognize it. He was not disappointed with the reaction.

"This... this is the same device that was used by Nerrti, when she came on the base to get to Cassandra. But...what has that to do with Jack and myself?" He looked up at the smiling faces around the table and was even more puzzled by his friends reactions.

"This someone, a Captain McDougall, used this devise to execute a cunning ploy to rid the SGC of Colonel O'Neill and use you as the instrument in which to do it. Thereby eliminating you also from the programme, because if the Colonel had died, you were the person who stood to take the blame. He was transferred here a month ago from NID, so we can probably all guess where his orders came from."

"What? I mean How? How was being invisible able to get rid of Jack and myself? I'm not sure I'm following much of this." He sounded a little bemused still and Sam stepped in to help explain things.

"It's easy really Daniel, when you think about it!" stated Sam with a smile.

"It is?" Daniel was still wondering if he hadn't stepped through that mirror after all. Nothing was making much sense.

"All those little trips and shoves you bugged the Colonel with on base... That wasn't really you Daniel. When the Colonel fell down the stairs, did you really think you had tripped up over your own feet? You said yourself that you saw 'nothing'. And as for beating him senseless, I couldn't really believe you had done that. Although circumstantial evidence pointed directly to it. You knew you didn't do it. But how could you prove to anybody that you weren't in fact responsible, especially with the damage you had supposedly done to your hands. Captain McDougall or whoever was behind all of this, really wanted you to take the blame. And unwittingly both you and the Colonel played right into his hands. Constantly arguing, and at odds all day long. What better way than to kill off one and let the other take the blame. He played you against the Colonel and he would have been the winner."

"If Major Carter hadn't spotted him."

"You mean it was this Captain all the time. God...I...I really thought I was having a bad day. I was packing up my gear, ready to leave. Then what happened? I mean how did you find out about all this?"

"I was sitting with the Colonel, after his beating, in the ICU. I couldn't stay awake, and dozed off, but something woke me up. Then I saw the Colonel's IV line moving all by itself. I was about to call Janet when I was hit over the head and I ended up unconscious too. Fortunately Teal'c heard me yelp, and peered around the doorway in time to see me being dragged away by...well, no-one. So he put two and two together and came up with the right answers."

"I do not recall having to do any calculations Major Carter, I do not understand how you came by this statement."

They all laughed and Sam said she would explain to him what she meant by it later.

"In the meantime the Colonel had gone into crisis and all his alarms sounded, waking Janet and the other nurses."

"Teal'c called the General and they caught the Captain still in the ICU, by using the TERs the Tok'ra gave us. When It was all over and the Captain was dead, it was then I woke up and told Janet what I had seen with the IV line. It was soon discovered that the Captain had injected Insulin into the Colonel's IV and this is what set the alarms off. It was at this point we realized what had been happening all the time. That you were not to blame for all those mishaps that happened to the Colonel. Someone was out to kill him. Why? is another matter. I doubt if we will ever know the reason or who was really behind it all."

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologize son and hope you can forgive me for not believing you were as innocent as you protested. We should have known better than to think you would even consider harming Colonel O'Neill"

"Well it's going to be difficult after what's happened...but...seeing as you're all I've got... then I guess it's okay. I'm just glad this is all over, and that Jack is going to get better. He is isn't he?"

"He is indeed son. So, SG-1, from now until further notice, you will consider yourselves on down time. I strongly recommend you all get some rest because the Colonel will be needing each one of you while he's recovering. Dismissed."

OoOoOoOoO

Sam, Daniel and Teal'c, although they were officially on leave, never left the SGC. Instead they took turns in sitting with Jack. After a week Janet took the decision to finally let him wake up. His wounds were healing nicely and the deep colour of the bruising was beginning to fade, turning to a dull yellow. Sam was half asleep when she discovered that he had closed his hand around hers now and his grip was warm and much stronger. She looked up at his face and found herself being studied by soft brown eyes.

"Sam..."

"Colonel... Hi, glad to see you're awake." she smiled at the use of her first name.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice quiet and husky, a residue left over from the use of the ventilator which Janet had removed a few days ago.

"You were beaten unconscious in Daniel's Lab sir."

"Oh yeah. Remember now...there was no-one there. Invisible..."

"It's okay Sir. We got him. He was using that Goa'uld hand device that made him invisible, just as it did for Nirrti. I'll explain it later, you should rest now." She could see his eyelids drooping again.

"Good. Sonovabitch..." He was asleep again barely finishing his thoughts.

Sam alerted Janet and she was pleased to be able to report to the General that the Colonel was doing just fine. He had woken up and appeared to be quite lucid.

His team were gathered round him when he awoke more refreshed than before, and his voice was stronger now.

"Hi Jack. Welcome him back to the land of the living," Daniel grinned, happy to know his friend was going to be okay.

"Hi kids," Jack croaked, reaching for a drink. Sam obliged by helping him take a sip.

"How are you feeling now Colonel?" asked General Hammond, happy to see Jack awake and alert.

"Oh. Just peachy Sir. Tired, but just peachy."

They all smiled at his favourite terminology as Janet came up to the bed to check his vital signs once again. She had her wounded arm in a sling, and Jack frowned up at her.

"Doc? What the hell happened to you? Just what did I miss?"

"This Colonel is what I got for trying to save your life." she quipped.

He looked so confused, they all had to laugh.

It fell to Sam to explain all that had transpired, while he had been out of it, as best she could. He was amazed at the way things had turned out.

"Whoa... I really did have a nice day. NOT." he sighed, but picked up on one point.

"One thing though Major. I never said that it was Daniel that had tried to kill me!"

"But, I'm sure you did Sir."

"I did not!" Jack insisted.

"I asked you who did this to you...don't you remember? You mumbled something about it being him. You said... 'Was Daniel' Sir. Teal'c heard you too."

"Yeah, I do remember...but what I said was...'Where's Daniel? And anyway, I never mumble."

"Oh! You sure Sir?" she asked again, and he nodded gingerly. "Sorry sir, but you did mumble Sir."

"Did not!" Jack was adamant. "I was worried about him, yeah. But I did not accuse him! Why the hell would I do that? He's one of my team for cryin' out loud!"

"Sam? It was you! Well, thanks very much. The General very nearly had me frog-marched to the gallows, thanks to you." Daniel exploded, waving his hands around wildly.

Sam at least had the decency to look so abashed by this, they could all laugh now. It had been like a travesty of errors, but one which they all had much rather forget happened. Everyone was so relieved and happy to see Jack recovering well.

General Hammond reminded them that they were on down time, and now that the Colonel was on the mend, even though he still bore the marks of his earlier encounters with Daniel. Maybe now's the time they should take their leave and have a break.

"Where will you all go?" asked Jack who was feeling a little envious of them being able to escape while he was tied to the infirmary.

"I might just go see my Brother and his family. I haven't seen them in a long time." Sam was glad to have the conversation changed to something lighter.

"Oh! Okay." He was disappointed that she was going to go and leave him to amuse himself. Something he wasn't so good at stuck where he was. "So, Teal'c ! How about you? Where will you go?"

"Actually Teal'c will be coming with me." Teal'c raised an eyebrow at the comment and turned to face the youngest member of the team.

"Well, okay, so, where are you and Teal'c going to go Daniel?" asked Jack, silently hoping that they weren't all going to go and leave him to himself in the infirmary...he'd go nuts all on his own.

"I think I'll take Teal'c to visit the Zoo. I'm sure he would like that, wouldn't you Teal'c, especially if it means we get to see the Giant Panda!"

This time the whole room, with the exception of Jack, burst into laughter, including Teal'c and the General.

"**Daniel!"**

The End.

_Just like to say a big thank you to all of you who reviewed and sent personal messages... All you comments mean a great deal to me. I hope you enjoyed this story and maybe the sequel "If At First You Don't Succeed...!" ...should you wish me to post that too? I will say, that although it follows on from this storyline, it can be read as a complete story in itself._


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